A Diamond is Forever? Not if You Don’t Take Care of It…

We are constantly being bombarded with messages such as a diamond is forever, as well as being encouraged to spend money on expensive jewelry that we can pass down as heirlooms to our descendants. Unfortunately, even a diamond won’t last forever if it isn’t properly cared for. These excellent tips for caring for your fine jewelry written by my colleague Jennifer Choi, G.G, custom jeweler and president of Missouri-based Rose Diamonds Custom Design and Repair, are invaluable. I’d only add to her list the following:

Don’t sleep wearing your jewelry. Even the sheets can wear away metal over time, not to mention that hands tend to swell during the night making rings uncomfortable, and earrings and necklaces can get yanked off.

Take care if you are wearing rings and are at a concert/sports event, etc. engaging in applause. Clapping your hands together can misshape the bands, dislodge stones, and create scratches on the metal.

Lastly, to reiterate a point that Jennifer makes…

Paula Dean, a professional chef on the Food Network, loves to dive her hands enthusiastically into a bowl of meatloaf mixture while wearing seemingly all of her finest diamond rings. If you aren’t a celebrity TV chef with the resources and means to have your jewelry repeatedly cleaned, repaired, or replaced, please take off your rings and store them in a safe place (away from the drain) before you do your hands-on cooking projects!